


golden hues

by aluinihi



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Spoilers, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers, They deserved better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21875464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aluinihi/pseuds/aluinihi
Summary: He breathed in deep, savoring the heat and the dryness of the air from the desert planet.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	golden hues

**Author's Note:**

> A quick thing I wrote after watching The Rise of Skywalker. The post-canon scene that happened in my heart.
> 
> English is not my native language, I apologize for any mistakes!

Ben opened his eyes to a world of golden hues. Warm and velvety, the sand blanketed the surface and promised an unforgiving land. To the sky, to the horizon— twin stars watched over the planet. To his left, a home of simplistic built and overwhelming nostalgia, and Ben sat there cross-legged on the floor with his shoulders hunched. He breathed in deep, savoring the heat and the dryness of the air from the desert planet.

_Tatooine_ , his heart told him. And he had no doubts.

But he was also certain that he wasn’t _there_. Not now, not then, not ever — his skin prickled with the truth, the harshest of them all, that he _wasn’t_ , neither could he tell wherein all universes he truly _was_ , neither if he could ever _be_. All the sensations drowning him were mere ghosts or breeze brushing his skin, a soft caress from a reality that he could no longer reach. Suddenly, he was hit with a feeling of _loss_. He couldn’t understand. How could he be lost if there was nowhere else to go?

“ _Ben?_ ”

A voice sweetly unsure, guiding him nonetheless. He raised his eyes to—

“Rey.”

On his tongue, her name felt like cotton, like a cloth clogging a drain. Yet he wanted to say it again.

She took a few steps, the distance between them had always seemed so insignificant. Ben didn’t move, his limbs simply refused, and he watched the one he loved so dearly walk towards him, then halt and fall to her knees in front of him. Her lips were twisted, brows furrowed in an expression of pain.

“Is this—” she choked out. “Are you real?” 

Ben pondered his answer. “That’s a hard question.” _I don’t know yet_ would have sounded way too foolish.

Rey raised her hand, reached out with trembling fingers to his face but, right before she could touch it, she hesitated. In her hazel eyes, Ben saw a burden he wished he could carry with her, an ocean of unshed tears, and the stubborn light of hope she would never let go. She put her hand down, gripped the clothes on her thighs as if to stop herself from doing something reckless. Rey looked at him as if she had understood something that he didn’t, and he too felt like crying.

“You’re not here, right?”

“Yes.” He frowned. “And yet I am. It’s another hard question, and the answer is even harder.”

“And yet you are,” she repeated, mulling over each word with such care that Ben was sure he didn’t need to try to explain again. “It’s different from Master Luke.”

He nodded. He had a feeling in his gut, like an accurate punch, that she was very correct, even if he couldn’t put into words or thoughts whatever it was that she was comparing.

“Where are you?” she said, uncertainty discarded in face of what seemed to be a new duty. “I’ll come and get you, Ben.”

“Would you?”

“Yes.”

His heart, wherever it was, seemed to beat faster. “I miss you,” he said. “I miss you so bad it hurts. Come and get me.”

She straightened her back, lips pressing together. The stubborn light burned in her eyes like wildfire, merging with bravery and becoming determination. Ben took in her image, under the binary stars of Tatooine — hair tied back, chin raised, and a lightsaber to her hip — and _knew_. Rey was supposed to stay with him, that’s what the stars wanted. What _they_ wanted.

Ben closed his eyes.

He breathed in and the air was no longer warm and dry like the desert.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was ok!  
> Twitter: @aluinihi  
> Tumblr: a-lu-i


End file.
